Empathy is the mother of invention: Emotion and cognition for creativity in the classroom

Helen Demetriou,Bill Nicholl

doi:10.1177/1365480221989500

Abstract

According to the age-old proverb from Plato’s Republic: necessity is the mother of invention, the main motivation for creating new discoveries is the need for them. However, as well as the necessity factor, we argue that a very important aspect that influences invention and creativity is the empathy factor. This mixed methods research investigated the impact of empathy instruction on the social and emotional skills of creativity in the UK Design and Technology (D&T) classroom. Pupils in year 9 (aged 13 to 14 years) from two schools were assessed for their creativity levels using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) both at the start and at the end of the academic school year. In the intervening period, whereas the control school continued as normal with its usual D&T lessons, the intervention school’s D&T lessons were replaced by a creativity tuition kit called Designing Our Tomorrow (DOT), which involves instruction in empathising. Pupils from year 7 (aged 11 to 12 years) in a third school were given the DOT task alone and interviewed about their experiences of it. Results showed that unlike the control school, whose emotional and cognitive creative scores in fact decreased over time, the intervention school increased in its levels of emotional and cognitive creativity, as measured by the TTCT. These quantitative as well as the subsequent qualitative interview findings and pupils’ portfolios suggest that creativity can be taught and particularly via instruction that advocates the importance of empathising with the subject matter. The findings are discussed in relation to the need for a holistic approach to teaching, where social, emotional and cognitive dimensions of teaching and learning are needed to complete and enhance the learning experience for the D&T classroom and beyond.

Highlights

The dual nature of empathyA government paper (POSTnote, 2018) for which the first author was consulted, addressed the importance of non-academic skills, such as social and emotional skills, being encouraged in school in order to increase academic performance and productivity, in order to create and prepare more rounded individuals who are more able and adept to navigate the workplace
It thereby entails both a cognitive and emotional experience of how that person feels first-hand, whilst taking the perspective of another’s situation. Bringing to bear these skills in the Design and Technology (D&T) classroom ensures that there is affective as well as effective learning; critical emotion as well as critical thinking; so that we are able to rein in our thoughts, become more critical of the other’s situation and don’t overimpute thoughts or make assumptions that are not relevant to their situation (Nickerson, 1999)
Our research questioned whether social and emotional aspects of empathy can be taught using a new empathy instruction kit, and whether any empathy taught through this procedure can be detected using an established measure of creativity as well as through pupils’ verbal feedback

Summary

Introduction

The dual nature of empathyA government paper (POSTnote, 2018) for which the first author was consulted, addressed the importance of non-academic skills, such as social and emotional skills, being encouraged in school in order to increase academic performance and productivity, in order to create and prepare more rounded individuals who are more able and adept to navigate the workplace. Thinking about the potential of social and emotional skills for education is not new. Back in 1933, John Dewey wrote of the necessity to address students’ social and emotional skills in education: . Such approaches have been propelled to the forefront of education and in so doing, have been recognised as being beneficial for children’s professional aspirations, as the more accurate understanding of emotion is believed to lead to better problem solving and, along with cultural and social intelligence, has been associated with positive and balanced work attitudes (Crowne, 2009). The social and emotional skill of empathy is no exception, as evinced through its myriad contemporary definitions which include the ability to feel, share, imagine, project, identify, understand or experience another’s perspective through their feelings, thoughts and actions. Definitions fluctuate between an empathy where there is an understanding of the other person’s perspective, to an empathy where there are similar feelings experienced

Methods

Results

Conclusion